The Life After
by Buford the Table
Summary: As Percy has grown up from a teen to an adult, he has experienced so much happiness and sadness that comes with having a family. Now with a threat arising that puts the whole world in danger once again, the seven, Nico and Reyna are forced to, yet again, solve the gods problems. But this time they have to leave their families behind, this time they have so much more to lose.
1. Chapter 1

"Percy can you put Lucas in the car? I'll be ready to go in about five minutes!" Annabeth called from the bathroom, her voice filling up their small apartment in New York.

Percy put down the pictures he'd been looking at. Chiron had a camera that he'd kept in the Big House that he, Nico, and Jason had, when they were teens, filled up with with tons of pictures of pretty much everything. He'd just been looking at pictures from when the Hunters had come to Camp Half-Blood for a visit. Those were some interesting pictures.

"Sure Annabeth!" he called back. He walked into their bedroom, and came to the crib. There was his son, Lucas, staring at him with his big green eyes, identical to Percy's own. He was eight months, and his blond hair had started to become curly, just like Annabeth's. Percy couldn't help smiling down at him.

"Ready to go buddy?" he said softly as he picked him up.

Lucas was the light and life of Annabeth and Percy's lives. His birth had not been easy for Annabeth. He had been born weeks early, and had barely weighed two pounds.

Percy had been terrified he would lose both Annabeth and Lucas that night, but now here he was in Percy's arms. All he needed to do now was keep both Lucas and Annabeth safe, which would of course be easier if they could stay at Camp Jupiter, he thought.

For the last month the camp had been overrun with monsters. Many families had to move away or to Camp Half-Blood. To make more room in Camp Half-Blood, Percy, Annabeth, had packed up their things and Lucas, and had moved into a New York apartment, provided by Camp Half-Blood. Yesterday they had been informed that they could move back to Camp Jupiter in about a week. Percy had thanked the gods for that News. He missed seeing his friends every day and was tired of living with constant fear that something would happen to either Annabeth or Lucas. They had had countless of monster attacks already.

Percy looked down at his son in his arms, "Ready to see Grandma Sally and Grandpa Paul?"

Lucas giggled, he loved to go visit his grandparents. The only upside of being away from the safety of the camps was that they were a lot closer to Percy's parents, and took advantage of that by making frequent visits.

Percy carried Lucas out of the bedroom and walked across the entryway, unlocked the door and closed it behind him. He stepped out into the dim hallway, and walked down two flights of stairs, holding Lucas tightly in his arms.

The lobby was dark and empty (as always). He walked across the room and opened the front door. It was cold outside, and he felt Lucas shiver in his arms. Percy felt guilty for not bringing him a blanket. He planned to back up and get one when Annabeth came down.

After he had buckled Lucas in the car (that had also been provided by Camp Half-Blood), he looked around for Annabeth. As he did, he spotted something that made him jump and grab Riptide out of his pocket. There were three empousa, illuminated by the street light. They were too close, Percy couldn't let them get any closer to his son.

He uncapped Riptide and charged at the empousa. Even though there were only three (he could fight them in his sleep), he got that same nervous feeling he always got when he fought monsters with Lucas close by.

As he got to them, they attacked. Percy was a bit relieved none of them were Kelli, she held too many bad memories.

He quickly slashed at two of them. One was caught in front of his blade, and was slashed into powder. The other had dodged his blade, and was now, with the third one by her side, lunging at him a second time, he easily sliced them both. They were gone. The "battle" had only lasted about five seconds. Definitely not the smartest empousa he'd fought.

He turned, planning to smile at his son, but when he turned around, what he saw made his heart turn ice cold, beyond ice cold. His entire body went numb.

There was Kelli, a horrible grin on her face, standing right next to the car. Inside the car was Lucas, still in his car seat. His big bright eyes were glazed, staring forward. His little body, always moving with energy, was now still. His rosy cheeks now pale. His white shirt, now with a huge spot of blood, and in the middle of the spot was a knife.

A ball of anger exploded inside Percy. He could barely feel the Earth shaking under him as he ran to Kelli, dropped his sword, and slammed her against the car, making sure she didn't touch Lucas again. He threw her on the ground and started punching her, wanting her to feel as much pain as possible. She did not deserve a quick death. Her gloating smile had disappeared. She was trying to bite him, but she was no match against the son of the sea god.

"PERCY! What are you-"

Hearing Annabeth's voice, his thoughts became clear.

"Annabeth do anything you can, save Lucas!" Percy sobbed. he picked up Riptide from the ground where he'd dropped it. He could hear Annabeth running towards the car. As she screamed at the sight of Lucas, he turned back to Kelli. She could no longer move, but still had a smile on her face.

"Percy Jackson," her voice made him shiver. He got ready to stab her, but what she said next shook him, "I will be back Percy, but your son will not." He stabbed, wishing more than anything he could end her life for good.

He turned back to the car. He had a clear view of his family, Annabeth and Lucas. Annabeth was looking at Percy, holding an open canteen of nectar. her face was chalky white, and tears were streaming down her cheeks. "He's dead Percy, he's dead."

The sounds of the city around them were not noticed by Percy and Annabeth. All that existed to them was the quiet, empty parking lot, their child in their arms, and their quiet sobs as they thought about their son, and how the good in the world can die so easily, but the evil would always be back.

* * *

 **Hey guys, I'm not positive what the exact length of this story will be, but I hope you will review/follow/favorite this story. Constructive criticism is very welcomed and appreciated! The more reviews this get the more sooner I'll post the next chapter! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, sorry for the long wait, chapter three won't as long of a wait. Of course, reviews help speed up the writing process (hint, hint).**

 **Disclaimer: This may come as a surprise to you, but I'm not Rick Riordan**

 **Enjoy!**

For the last five years, Percy had been having the same dream almost every night. Each night He found himself reliving that same horrid night again and again. He was running towards the car in that dark parking lot, running towards Lucas, away from the dust of the empousi. The farther he ran, trying to save his son, the farther away the car, where Lucas sat, seemed. Percy kept running, feeling tears stream down his face. He was unable to look away as Kelli smiled at him, lodging her knife into his son's stomach, just like she had a thousand times before, in the same dream.

Percy's eyes flew open. His eyes adjusting to the dark as he looked around his and Annabeth's bedroom, the familiarity momentarily comforting him.

He rolled over to look at Annabeth and was relieved to see her sleeping peacefully. He softly kissed her forehead, careful not to wake her.

Percy, once again, looked around the dark room. He felt slightly panicked as the shadows of the forest outside started looking more and more like the monsters Annabeth and him had seen in Tartarus, twelve years ago. Percy shook his head, angry with himself. He hated how anything that slightly resembled Tartarus, or reminded him of Lucas, made him feel as if he were suffocating in despair and fear. Not fear for his own safety, but for the safety of the people he loved.

Percy decided to go for a walk to clear his mind, though of course not before he checked on his kids first.

He silently slipped out of bed and walked to his daughter's crib, located at the end of Percy and Annabeth's bedroom. One of his precious daughter, Maya, was sound asleep, which was a rare event for her. Her favorite activities usually included crying all night, and making her parents as tired as possible.

Percy excited the bedroom and entered the room across the hall. Charles, seventeen months, and Maria, three years old, were sound asleep. He closed their door, relieved. Maybe he was a little too overprotective of his kids, he had a good reason to be, after all. Raising three kids was hard for Percy and Annabeth, especially with their first born, leaving a piercing sadness and guilt in them both. But having Maria, Charles, and Maya had caused them to heal a little bit.

He got dressed pulled on a coat and left the small house. It was about 5:30 in the morning, so the lack of sun made outside look like nighttime. He could barely make out Camp Half-Blood through the thick trees, yet he could still smell the familiar scent of strawberries, a smell he would always associate with home. He looked around at the small circle of houses. They had been recently built and were in use by old Campers that worked at Camp Half-blood. The camp borders had been expanded so the housing could be located in a clearing in the forest close to camp. It was, of course, nothing compared to New Rome, but Percy and Annabeth loved being home and teaching at camp. Besides, there was a portal connecting Camp Half-Blood and camp Jupiter, so it took about three seconds to go from New York to California. It had been a "present" from the gods. A "present" meaning that Percy and a couple other friends, soon after they had defeated Gaea, went up to Mt. Olympus, interrupted their council meeting and demanded that it should be put in to make up for all the times the demigods have saved the god's sorry butts. They figured The only reason Zeus (and a few others) hadn't blasted them to pieces was since it may have looked a little bad destroying the people that had saved them from Gaea the previous month.

Percy stepped out of the woods and took in the camp. The familiarity of Camp Half-Blood always calmed him down. He started walking to the beach, and took a slow breath in. He decided to pass by the sword arena to make sure everything was set up for the class he was teaching today with Nico.

When he came to the arena he heard shuffling coming from inside the tent next to the arena. He stopped in his tracks, and quietly pulled out Riptide. He first figured it was a harpy, but then he remembered they had all been eaten (except for the smart, and more friendly ones like Ella) by monsters a few weeks ago when they'd been let in the camp for training purposes and had gotten a little out of control. He figured it was a 50% chance it was a monster that had somehow gotten through the camp border and 50% it was a demigod, doing who knows what. he opened the tent flapped, Riptide uncapped.

There was Nico, shuffling around inside setting up dummies for training. Hearing Percy enter, he turned towards him, "Can't sleep?" Nico asked

"No you?" Percy replied, capping his sword.

Nico sighed, "Not with these dreams. Have they been getting worse for you too?"

"Their always the same, the same every night." Percy's voice cracked.

Nico looked at him with concern, "Lucas?"

Percy nodded

"It's his birthday this week isn't it?"

"April 12th, yes," Percy said trying not to let his emotions show.

"You know what?" Nico started. "How about Will and I babysit Maria, Maya, and Charles while you and Annabeth go out or something."

Percy slowly started to smile. "Nico, you're the best."

He smiled, "What can I say? I'm great."

Percy snorted, "Sure Nico."

Percy helped him lift up the dummy Nico was working on setting up, and helped him tie it to one of the tent poles.

"Oh!" said Nico. "I forgot to tell you, we have a meeting tomorrow at Camp Jupiter, 10:00, with the usual. Could you tell Annabeth too, I'm sure Will can babysit. He's already babysitting Colby and Rose."

The seven, plus Nico and Reyna were considered the unofficial leaders of the camps, and they sometimes had meetings. sometimes they would discuss major things going on in the demigod world, but it was mostly to check up on each other and the camps.

"Is it an important one? Is something happening?" Percy asked, curious.

"I think it might be, I've been telling Reyna about these dreams I've been having, and I think other people are having them too," Nico said, nervously.

"Dreams? you just mentioned yours getting worse, what are you seeing?"

Nico looked around, "I'm not sure this is the best place to tell you. I'm pretty sure you'll find out soon enough."

"Okay, we'll be there," he said apprehensively. "We'll walk by yours on the way to drop the kids off, then Jason, Piper, and us can all walk there together.

"Sounds good," Nico looked at the pink horizon, the sun was coming up. "I better be there when Will wakes up."

"Yeah I better check in with Annabeth and the kids."

They walked into the forest together and into the clearing, In the circle of houses, theirs were right across from each other.

"See you at breakfast, Percy," Nico waved.

Percy smiled, "See you later, Nico."

* * *

Percy pulled out a chair for Annabeth and sat in one himself. The room they were all in was hot and stuffy. The nine of them sat down ready to start. There were greetings and chatting, briefly catching up on each others lives. Brief, because they'd all seen each other last week. Though the usual playful teasing and banter were missing. Everyone knew something was up. Everyone around the table had varying degrees of nervousness on their faces.

"Okay," Renay said, "Let's get this over with." All conversations came to an end and they all looked at Reyna. "Thanks for being here everyone, sorry for the short notice." She continued, "Unfortunately, there is an important reason for this meeting."

Percy looked around the table, he wondered how many of them had been getting the dreams that Nico mentioned, and knew what was going on. He locked eyes with Annabeth. Percy could see her frustration since she didn't know what was going on. Percy grabbed her hand under the table and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

Reyna continued, "It's been brought to my attention some of you, and a few others, have been having dreams that connect and bring up an alarming issue."

Dreams for demigods weren't just dreams, if a lot of people were having a dream that were "alarming," then this was not good.

Frank stepped in, "We aren't positive yet, but it's pretty obvious that these dreams display a new threat."

Percy wasn't surprised that Frank also knew what was going on. Even though Reyna and Frank were retired praetors, they still had a close friendship and were still thought of as leaders of Camp Jupiter. If Reyna knew something, she would've told Frank too.

"An old threat actually," Reyna chimed in.

The tension in the room was thick. Everyone had an idea of what Reyna was talking about. She'd said an old threat there were only so many options as of who/what it could be.

"Gaea."

With just that single word, everyone's worst fears were confirmed.

"It's not certain," she continued. "Only a few bad dreams that may not mean anything. I encourage you all to keep a very low profile on this issue until we can confirm this is a real concern. Nico and Leo, you two can talk to your spouse's about it, but don't share this with your kids or anyone else."

Everyone around the table, all people Percy considered as family (not just because they were all demigods, meaning they were all literally family), Looked absolutely distraught. During the months leading up to Gaea's awakening, they had been through so much. The thought of Gaea rising again made Percy want to curl up into a ball, and never move again. Especially that he now had so much more to lose.

Leo spoke the words everyone was thinking, "You mean all the months we suffered, travelling around the world were for nothing?"

"Of course they were for something," Reyna replied. "You all stopped her, and I repeat, it's not certain she's back. I'm just telling you all to be alert. It could be nothing but, it doesn't make sense some of you have been having dreams about her if she's gone. Dreams aren't that trustworthy, if we see any real signs of her we'll have a meeting immediately."

On that happy note, the meeting ended.

* * *

They all said their goodbye's and see you later's to each other. Leo was going back to work to help Calypso at their shop, and Piper was going to go hang out with Hazel, so that meant just Jason, Nico, Annabeth, and Percy were heading back to Camp Half-Blood.

The four of them walked down the pathway leading to the portal that would take them home. They were all deep in thought, especially Annabeth. Percy looked at her, noticing she looked like she wanted to say something.

When they came in sight of the portal Annabeth started talking. "Why is this happening? What did we do wrong the first time? We beat Gaea! What's wrong with the Fates? We did everything we were supposed to!"

With each word Annabeth got more and more flustered. Her voice had a slight edge of panic to it. She was voicing what they were all thinking. Percy draped an arm over her back, and rubbed her shoulder, trying to calm her down.

"Annabeth," Jason started, "It's not certain just some dreams," Jason said, uncertainly.

"Didn't you feel it? The lack of closure of the Giant War? Sure Gaea left with a bang, literally killing Leo, but what proof do we have that we really did destroy her? The gods didn't appear to us afterwards and hand out awards or anything. Olympus might as well still be closed up for how much the gods have talked to us since the war. In fact, I think they talked to us more when Zeus closed Olympus than now. And now people are having dreams about Gaea, I don't know why I didn't realize this earlier."

Percy chimed in, "Wait Nico, you said you were having dreams about Gaea right? Care to share?"

Nico shivered, "The ones I've been having these last couple nights, I've had to, again, experience the worse parts of the months leading up to Gaea rising, the glass jar, Tartarus, while Gaea mocked me and so on."

"Nico, I think you're the only one in contact with a god. Has Hades said anything relating to Gaea?" Annabeth asked.

"No, but it wouldn't surprise me if he has been hiding something."

"Do you think the gods have always known that Gaea was never destroyed? are they all just hiding not wanting to communicate with us? Most of us have seen our godly parent very little, if not at all since we were teenagers, about ten years ago. Is this why?" Percy asked.

They had reached the portal

"I think that's exactly right Percy" Annabeth said.

They all stepped through the portal.

At Camp Half-Blood, the campers were in the pavilion eating lunch. They all walked towards Nico and Will's place since that's where Percy, Annabeth, and Jason's kids were.

Percy had what should've been a wonderful rest of his day, he played with his kids and Annabeth and taught two sword fighting lessons. But every time he looked at the ground he thought of the evil it represented, Gaea. Every time he looked at a camper he thought of them, fighting in a war against Gaea. When he played with his kids, he thought of what would happen if he lost them due to Gaea. He wasn't sure if he could survive a second piece of glass lodged in his heart, the first one being from his firstborns passing. And when he looked into the eyes of his beautiful wife, he saw Tartarus in the broken glass that were her eyes. Because of the things they saw and went through he knew as long as they lived they would never experience a peaceful night because of nightmares. All because of Gaea. Everything bad in Percy and his friends lives seemed to be because of her.

If Percy had a chance to fight her, this time, he would not hold back, and let others do the dirty work for him. He was ready for revenge. This time, he would fight Gaea with everything he had.


End file.
